Prerequisite to Wealth Creation 5 – IDEDE Oseyande

Prerequisite to Wealth Creation 5 – IDEDE Oseyande

Previously I addressed being an impulsive spender but did not really dwell on it. Quickly let me address it.

An impulsive buyer is one that buys anything within his financial capability as long as the money is available, whether it is a priority or not. In fact, impulsive spenders hardly have a priority list, the money available is what determines their needs and what they buy. No budget, no thinking about it, no prioritising and all that critical thinking. They are the type that are easily lured by salesmen to buy goods in traffic and in offices. They are the best clients of a regular salesman.

Just like the impulsive spenders, those that spend due to societal pressure or to feel among a social class, are another type of spenders entirely.

Let me share another personal experience.

Some years back, while working with a Lebanese firm, I had these Lebanese colleagues that always treated us (Africans) like trash. They used every opportunity to look down on us, and I wanted to break that thread. It was that period that Samsung released S4 model of their smartphone. These Lebanese colleagues got the phone and would not allow us to rest at the site. That was how I took my one-month hard-earned salary and went to buy myself a Samsung S4.🙈🙈

When I got mine, I fell for fraudsters and was sold a refurbished product. It was these same colleagues that pointed it out to me. “Jeez, how can someone scam me when I used a whole one month salary to buy a phone?” ‘I wee not take eet’. So I went back to the place for a refund, with enough trouble. Long and short, I got the Samsung S4, and in less than 4 months, the screen got bad. My colleague’s own went bad too, but his salary was almost four times as much as mine, so he fixed it without batting an eye. When I was told that I have to use half of my one month salary to fix the phone, my brain returned to factory settings immediately! Then I knew Tecno could still do what Samsung can do.😜

Now, just as I got myself involved in unnecessary financial stress because I wanted to force myself into a class that I don’t yet belong, that is how many people live their lives too. We struggle to live in a three bedroom flat when our salary can conveniently cater for a room and a parlour. We shop in boutiques not because we are financially comfortable, but because we want to follow the trend, rub shoulders with a particular social class, or perhaps like me in my foolish days, compete with those that are more privileged than you. “You will just kill your self by yourself”!

Such a mindset will keep you at best, on the “look wealthy” status, but you can never be wealthy. Wealthy people form partnerships to grow businesses and not just spend to prove a point. Let your savings and investment do your complexes battle and not your spending.

The truth is, nobody is competing with you. You’re the one looking down on yourself, and then trying to use excessive spending to boost your crushed ego. Same way some intellectually deficient people try to use too much talk and repetitive adjectives to boost their ego when talking in public.

Double your hustle and investment, once your bank account is smiling, your ego will naturally soar. The competition is between your present and your future, between your today and your tomorrow. Think!🤔